| Author |
Message |
    
Steven Shrewsbury
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
510
Registered: 04-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 03, 2004 - 05:44 pm: |   |
May drop a few lines concerning bookstore tales. I have been calling bookstores and man, I dunno how tele-marketers do this stuff sober.
ANYWAY
A small indie bookshop jumped to stock BULLETPROOF SOUL.
Another blew me off.
A B DALTON readily agreed to order a copy
Another B Dalton wanted me to mail them a copy and get them interested in it. (anyone ever hear of such a practice?)
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Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
2580
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 03, 2004 - 06:26 pm: | |
Oh my yes. I had to mail an advance copy to a Borders store to see if they wanted to handle my book. After reviewing it, they ordered five consignment copies.
Most book stores blow me off, unless I am willing to provide consignment copies. Even bookstores in my home town. Needless to say, I spend very little time asking bookstores about anything. |
Steven Shrewsbury
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
511
Registered: 04-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 03, 2004 - 07:10 pm: | |
Talked to 2 BORDERS stores...one wanted me to drop in and fill out a form...the other wanted 5 copies of the book on consignment.
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Fred Dungan
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
521
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 03, 2004 - 09:20 pm: | |
I called a few bookstores, too, but, since there is a lady present, I won't tell you what I called them. They tore down a perfectly good multiplex cinema at the local mall to make way for a Barnes and Noble. What a waste! It's a good place to buy magazines and coffee, but a lousy place to buy books. Most small independents have better selections at lower prices. This store is all show and no go with a false front and a wraparound wannabe literati mural. If I changed my name to Tennessee, I'm fairly certain I could talk the manager into letting me do a reading. This is Saks 5th Avenue gone Bohemian. It's hard to believe that anything so utterly tasteless could put Crown Books and B. Dalton out of business.
http://www.fdungan.com/publish.htm |
Todd Hunter
Unity Member
Post Number:
1109
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 05:05 am: | |
You'll find, Steve, that every bookstore is different...
there will be some that are very willing to work with you, and others won't.
Be wary...I gave a review copy to a Borders store here in town.
They did end up ordering 5 copies direct, but oddly enough, they were
selling 6 copies on the shelves...
You do the math...
(apparently next time, I need to remember to sign such copies)
But to be honest, the manager of said store has been the best to work with...
aside from that bit of tomfoolery (and a more recent incident I can most likely attribute to corporate screwballs), he's been pleasant, and given quite a lot of benefits (better consignment percentages, etc.)...
The other store across town wouldn't let me hold a signing because "we only do signings for new books"...screw 'em.
I don't have a clue how salespeople can do it...sober or not... |
Tulla
Awareness Member
Post Number:
15
Registered: 12-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 06:20 am: | |
Sorry I am researching opening my own little place book store/coffee shop and I am looking for feedback.
So what would be the perfect/ideal solution to this? |
Perry Comer
Unity Member
Post Number:
1147
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 07:02 am: | |
Tulla
You can't stock everything but you can do consignments without it costing you anything but space. Local people would like to at least "see" a local author's book in a bookstore.
http://www.pacwriter.netfirms.com/ |
LaurieAnne
Unity Member
Post Number:
1191
Registered: 12-2001
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 10:19 am: | |
Tulla,
It would be interesting to see a location where "local authors" were show-cased. The feasibility and financial security of it would be up to you to discern, though. And, frankly, an easy to find product is the key. I stepped one time inside the Barnes & Noble at Lakeview Square Mall in Battle Creek. I wandered around and couldn't find a single title that I was looking for, let alone anything by any of the authors for which I was looking.
I gave up and left without purchasing anything.
Seems to me that the stress there is on selling the Starbucks or whatever else they have there, not on the books.
Of course, I don't shop at the local Walmart anymore, either. They added on and made it one of the WalMart SuperCenters. I can no longer find anything. It took me an hour of walking around that danged store to find the garbage bags, and even then, the next week, they had been moved again.
I'll stick with Kmart, Kroger, and the local independent bookstores. If I want to have coffee while I read a book, I can just as easily step out of the bookstore, walk 2 doors down, and order coffee at the coffee shop. I don't need the convenience of one-stop shopping. I prefer exercise. 
But then, I'm a freak, so I don't count.
LOL
LA
LaurieAnne
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Perry Comer
Unity Member
Post Number:
1148
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 10:54 am: | |
I've often thought that if a bookstore was going to sell coffee, they should sell the coffee "cheap" in order to draw people to "buy" books. If the main goal of a bookstore is to sell books, then use the sideline to facilitate selling books. If "Coffee" is the main attraction then sell coffee and forget the books.
Using Laurie as an example - she comes in to buy a book. Sees that coffee is only .25 a cup, she will likely pickup a book, magazine or newspaper to read while enjoying the "cheap" coffee. But if the coffee is $2.50 a cup she will keep walking hence no book and no coffee. No Sale!
But - then - what do I know - I drink instant decaf -- one cup a day
http://www.pacwriter.netfirms.com/ |
Gloria Marlow
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
558
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 11:27 am: | |
I have to admit that I've actually sat in the coffeeshop at B&N before...but it was my husband's fault. He likes to buy a book or magazine and then go sit in the coffeeshop and listen to the musicians while he reads. That's been the last stop on every date he and I have taken for about ten years or whenever it was they built the store. I don't mind because I like to browse around the bookstore and that keeps him occupied. A few months ago, he wouldn't leave the store until I gave in and sat down with him. I felt like an idiot, everyone in there had such a classy, artsy air. |
Tulla
Awareness Member
Post Number:
16
Registered: 12-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 12:28 pm: | |
Ya, see I want a shop that is convenient coffee and a book to read two of my favorite things (this is where she breaks out in song)........Now if i could arrange a Jetson kitchen and a Rosie...I would never leave....
Now all kidding aside.....Here Borders is coffee and bookie, but they have such an unwelcoming atmosphere that I don't even enjoy it....and Barnes & Nobles is too far to drive for most people.....Plus trying to find local authors is a real pain in the butt......
I have the idea all in my head (shhhh keep that thought). Children story hour, other readings, book clubs, etc etc.....and of course book signings from favorite authors..... |
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
528
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 01:41 pm: | |
As Todd mentioned, all bookstores are different. Even within the same chain.
A couple of years ago, the B&N in the Lansing (MI) Mall had a community relations manager who believed in promoting home grown authors. He set aside an aisle for Michigan Authors. He had me in fo two signings and promoted them very well through the newspapers and the monthly letter that B&N send all of their regulars. The entire week preceding my signing, copies of my book were displayed in the mallside window, at the parking lot entrance and an aisle endcap. We sold out at both signings.
But it wasn't B&N that did it. It was the communirty relations manager.
He has since opened his own independent bookstore in downtown Lansing in the area of the State Capitol. He sells about 60% new and 40% used. He relied heavily on donations for his first batch of used books.
If you ever get to Lansing, it's called "Wayside Books"
An interesting twist. The downtown area of the town nearest to me is a total of two blocks long. The town doesn't have a bookstore but they do have a coffee shop.
The coffee shop sells books... The have The Unreal McCoy... |
Todd Hunter
Unity Member
Post Number:
1111
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 03:56 pm: | |
B&N in this region has removed all CRMs (comm. relations mgrs) from their stores...just eliminated the position...has made arranging signings that much more exciting, as now you have to jockey for memory time with the manager, who has a hundred other things to think about...sigh.
One of the worst things I see at stores is when they have displays right up front...not the fact they have the displays, but what they display...obviously, they have the standard (NY Times Bestseller of the week), but I also see: latest CDs, latest movies/DVDs, odds and ends such as calendars and gadgets, etc.
Finding books is almost impossible in any large store, as well...in most of the stores I've seen, they don't even label their local interest section...many also stick them in dark corners in the far reaches of the building. Only one has it labeled, and placed right near the front door (although on the back of one of the racks, still better than the others)...
But it's true...one cannot stock every book they would like...
not enough space, and not enough cash reserves (especially with non-returnable books)...
However, one would think if the store has already paid for these books, they would do a little something to improve the likelihood of their sale.
Examples in point...Borders had six copies of my book on their shelf...none were moving. I came in, with a color mini-poster, asking if they could put it up next to the books in order to emphasize the fact they were $4 off cover price. After one failed attempt (did they lose the poster?), they finally put one up...I believe half moved off the shelves in the next week. Somehow, I went in later, and the poster was gone...hello?
Another example...Barnes and Noble bought 3 books from me after my last signing (I'm still waiting to get paid for those, by the way)...you would think they'd display them prominently somewhere...even if it was just next to the checkouts or something. Instead, they slapped a couple of "autographed copy" stickers on them, and placed them at the info desk. Not bad, you say? They've stuck them in the corner, laying flat, where no one can see them unless they're really looking...
They've already paid (in theory) for all these books...so one would think they'd want to sell them...it's not like they can return them...
Who knows?
Make certain if you start up a shop, to pay local talent on the day of the event...waiting 5-6 months really sucks... |
C. E. Winterland
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1342
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 06:09 pm: | |
Tulla,
I am reveling in the thought of your proposal.
I know the Borders of which you speak, and it is more like a cellar than a bookstore... it's cold, huge, and strangely dark.
Here is some food for thought...
My brother in-law owns an espresso 'shack', for lack of a better term. He makes money HAND OVER FIST and there are no fewer than 5 other 'shacks' within a half dozen blocks. This area is completely lacking in espresso 'shacks' though. For a small, quick-start venture an espresso shack with a kind of 'books of the week' rack (maybe 10 or so) displayed in the window gives you the best of both worlds on a very small scale, and the espresso will generate the money to pay for itself and the books and the rent in NO TIME, and the coffee would be far less than the starbucks available elsewhere nearby. The shack can be semi-portable and the space for it can be rented from a local business with space to spare in their lot (like a used car lot on Main St...)
Translate that into slightly larger scale, and you get something like one of my all-time favorite hang-outs in college: The Four Winds Bookstore. This place had a small kitchen, a small 2-pipe espresso maker, and books everywhere (along with some other kitchy things that were useless to everyone except the occaisional tourist and probably generated 200% in profits when sold every blue moon or so). The Four Winds was divided into two segments... the main shop where you ordered your coffee and bought your books, and the lounge, where you could play chess, checkers, bridge, parcheesi, whatever... A GREAT hangout.
Check out the Mindsight Links portal / books / wholesalers - those links will get you started on how/where to buy books, so you can see the scope of the project in that way. When you think you might be ready to research the coffee aspect - we can chat... I can hook you up
Hmmm... If you could see your way into buying a used digital press, you might be able to find a partner in this venture of yours ;)
CEW
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Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
2582
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 07:23 pm: | |
Wonderful idea, Tulla. Some people like the ambience of the B & N's in the cities near me, but most prefer the independent stores. I've mentioned the independent store in Lincoln NE that stocks my books on consignment. Lee Booksellers. They had one store in Lincoln that does such a brisk business they had to open another one. I have been there several times and the traffic day or night, all kinds of weather, is tremendous. Busy constantly. Their main attraction is that they feature Nebraska writers. Regardless of publisher - major house, print on demand, self pub, or small press - their area authors take priority. As you enter the store you see a large checkout station with chairs to both sides. Immediately adjacent to that, just slightly behind the check out station are two large round tables loaded with the books of Nebraska authors. Behind that on shelves are the usual book store fare - best sellers and the like.
They cater to local book clubs and host readings at regular intervals. Customers can get free coffee from a Mr. Coffee or some such machine. Their staff is friendly, helpful, approachable, but low key. Customers are left to browse, buy, read without intervention unless they ask for help.
It's not a fancy place but whatever they do seems to work. |
LaurieAnne
Unity Member
Post Number:
1192
Registered: 12-2001
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 08:51 pm: | |
Perry,
Always happy to be used as the example. (tips imaginary hat) And you are right on the money, too.
Tulla,
CE has some very good points.
Approachability is a major issue. I don't like being stared at, and I don't like being followed. Even my local librarian learned that the day I had to do research for college and took my children with me. She had the NERVE to "inform" me that the library was not to be used as an all day daycare facility, and if I didn't think I could handle babysitting, I should never have taken the job. (I, of course, kindly (ha ha ha) informed her that if I wanted to babysit, I would never have had 5 children, and I was perfectly capable of caring for my children without her butting her over-indulgent nose in. I had a term paper to prepare and did not have internet access at home at that time. At this point, she recognized exactly who I was and was MOST hospitable, asking about my sisblings and such. LOL)
But, I digress.
All customers need to feel comfortable, and frankly, if someone wants snooty, Starbucks (or another such place) is nearby. However, there tends (IMO) to be MANY more "regular Joes" than there are "snooty" in any given area.
Hmmmm....I'm rambling again, aren't I? Ah, well. Off I go.
LA
LaurieAnne
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Tulla
Awareness Member
Post Number:
17
Registered: 12-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 05, 2004 - 08:29 am: | |
Thank you all....I am glad to see I am sorta on the right track....I had to take a walk in the snow storm just to clear my head yesterday; ideas abounding in my noggin.... |
Tulla
Awareness Member
Post Number:
18
Registered: 12-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 07, 2004 - 04:41 pm: | |
Okay`
I am going hard core....I have volunteered at a friends coffee shop...Hey where else can you get the real core research....been reading up on businesses and I think I found the small town that will be booming in the near future to hold such a place.....Next stop used book store, I think...hmmmm gotta check to see if I have any friends that have such a place in their life currently...field research...gotta luv it... |
Steven Shrewsbury
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
520
Registered: 04-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 03:36 pm: | |
Ok, some new tales:
Walked into the BORDERS in BLOOMINGTON-NORMAL and they gladly ordered a couple copies of BULLETPROOF SOUL. They want me to come back and sign them. SCORE!
Walked into the BARNES & NOBLE down the street and they blew me off completely. Though the book is listed on Ingrams Etc, they copped a POD attitude. AH WELL.
Went over to B DALTON'S at Eastland Mall. They have a copy of BS on the trade paperback msytery shelf for God and all of humanity to see. Nice folks abounded. SCORE.
Went to a comic shop and they informed me that they don't stock paperbacks anymore. AH WELL.
Called THE BOOK MOUSE, an indie bookstore and they agreed to order BS. SCORE.
Called several bookstores and their phones were out of order.
A B Dalton in Springfield agreed to look it over. As did the local library.
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Todd Hunter
Unity Member
Post Number:
1131
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 04:08 pm: | |
Cool beans, Steve...
B&N seems to take that attitude quite a bit...
get yourself a write-up in a newspaper or local magazine or such...it helps them to see the light, especially when coupled with a signing or other event (where they can presumably get a mention)...stocking is one thing, buying extra after a successful event is quite another...(this, of course, assumes a successful event occurs)
(long ago) B.Dalton here on the east side of town also had a rare unsolicited copy of my book on its shelf...they told me the distributor sent it cold...
weird.
(Side note: said store has since closed down, seemingly recently...wonder if they shipped the copy over to the B.Dalton on the other side of town?) |
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